Art by Clark Miller.
Advances in artificial intelligence are prompting executives at companies such as PayPal, United Wholesale Mortgage, Shopify and others to move in a direction that has long been a taboo: using AI to fill roles people would have held previously.
These firms have either instructed staff to avoid hiring for new roles unless they show the roles can’t be automated, or say they plan to hire fewer people after finding AI can essentially handle certain jobs. Such moves could accelerate if President Donald Trump’s trade war causes a recession, some executives say.